coup
/kuː/US/ku/
coup noun: a quick, brilliant, and highly successful act.
Noun
coup (plural coups)
- A quick, brilliant, and highly successful act.
- The conference was a major coup for Robarts, who received congratulations for his 'expert handling' of the 'risky venture.'2000, P. E. Bryden, “The Ontario-Quebec Axis: Postwar Strategies in Intergovernmental Negotiations”, in Edgar-André Montigny, Anne Lorene Chambers, editors, Ontario Since Confederation: A Reader...
- While the price was considered a coup for Morgan, enhancing his reputation on Wall Street, Carnegie had a different explanation for his selling price.2004, Charles R. Geisst, Wall Street: A History, page 116
- Synonyms:
- triumph
- Of Native Americans, a blow against an enemy delivered in a way that demonstrates bravery.
- Among the Blackfeet the capture of a shield, bow, gun, war bonnet, war shirt, or medicine pipe was deemed a coup.1892, George Bird Grinnell, “The Blackfoot in War”, in Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story of a Prairie People, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 248
- Thus, for a horseman to ride over and knock down an enemy, who was on foot, was regarded among the Blackfeet as a coup, for the horseman might be shot at close quarters, or might receive a lance thrust.2007, James Mooney, George Bird Grinnell, Edmund Nequatewa, Native American Ways: Four Paths to Enlightenment, page 316
- A coup d'état.
- Military coups and the military regimes which follow from them are so much a feature of third world politics that their presence or absence in any given region might almost be taken as a rough and ready touchstone of third worldliness.1985, Christopher S. Clapham, Third World Politics: An Introduction, page 137
- It was the military's discontent with what was happening in the country and in the military that led to the first military coup in January 1966. The First Republic was brought to an ignoble end and replaced with a military government.2003, April A. Gordon, Nigeria's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, page 130
- Synonyms:
- putsch
- A takeover of one group by another.
- Liz Truss’s government is in chaos after the chancellor refused to confirm he would bring forward his budget to calm the markets and the home secretary accused fellow MPs of a coup against the prime minister. […] Backbenchers also expressed outrage at [Suella] Braverman’s suggestion of a “coup”...2022 October 4, “Truss government in chaos amid budget confusion and coup accusations”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2023
- A single roll of the wheel at roulette, or a deal in rouge et noir.
- After seven coups he had won six times. He lost on the seventh when thirty came up.1953, Ian Fleming, “Rouge et Noir”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 50
- One of various named strategies employed by the declarer to win more tricks, such as the Bath coup.
Verb (1)
coup (third-person singular simple present coups, present participle couping, simple past and past participle couped)
- To execute a coup.
- The squaws of another race will sing the death-song of their benefactor, and woe to the Sioux if the Northern Cheyennes get a chance to coup !1895, Frederic Remington, “Lieutenant Casey’s Last Scout”, in Pony Tracks, New York: Harper & Brothers, page 48
- To subject (a nation) to a coup d'état.
- We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.2020 June 24, Elon Musk, Twitter (tweet), deleted; screenshot and quoted in Alan MacLeod, “United Tesla Company: Widespread Condemnation of Elon Musk's Bolivia Coup Comments”, in MintPress News, 27...
- In response to the accusation that the US government organised a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia in order for Tesla to secure lithium there, Musk tweeted: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”2023 November 25, Douglas Rushkoff, quoting Elon Musk, “‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- To empty out, overturn, or tilt, such as from a cart or wheelbarrow.
Verb (2)
coup (third-person singular simple present coups, present participle couping, simple past and past participle couped)
- To exchange, barter.
- How that he had been couped from hand to hand, ſometimes kept againſt his will as Captive, ſometimes beſieged, ſometimes brought to battle againſt his will by the Duglaſſes to fight againſt the Earl of Lenox, […]c. 1610, James Melvil, edited by George Scott, The Memoires of Sir James Melvil of Hal-hill: Containing an Impartial Account of the Most Remarkable Affairs of State during the Last Age, Not Mention’d...
- [W]hen he had gotten, beſide twelve chalder of victuall, a hundred pound ſterling a-year, from the Engliſh, out of the ſtipends of other kirks, all contented him not; but he made almoſt a trade of couping horſes.1656 September 11 (Gregorian calendar), Robert Baillie, “For Mr. Spang, at Middelburgh”, in David Laing, editor, The Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie, […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Robert...
coup meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
coup in Hindi
- तख्तापलट
coup in Tamil
- அரசியல் புரட்சி, வல்லடி, அடி, அடித்தல்
coup in Marathi
- सत्तापालट
coup in Bengali
- coup, coup d'etat
- বিদ্রোহ bidrōho
More languagesFewer languages
- coup in Malayalam
- നിലവിലുള്ള വ്യവസ്ഥയെ അട്ടിമറിക്കുക, പട്ടാള അട്ടിമറി
- coup in Kannada
- ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ, ದಿಢೀರ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಚರಣೆ, ಆಡಳಿತದ ಆಕ್ರಮಣ, ಹೊಡೆತ
- coup in Punjabi
- ਤਖਤਾਪਲਟ
- coup in Gujarati
- તખ્તાપલટ
- coup in Nepali
- तख्तापलट
Examples of coup in a sentence
- "[…]It was quite a coup for Pullen Park to get it.2005, Laryce Henderson Rybka, Legacy of the Lamp, page 252:
- The diplomatic messaging of RCEP may be just as important as the economics—a coup for China.2020 November 15, Yen Nee Lee, “‘A coup for China’: Analysts react to the world’s largest trade deal that excludes the U.S.”, in CNBC...
- Now that would really have been a real coup if that occurred. [audience gasps] Little tough, huh?2022 April 30, Joe Biden, 1:02 from the start, in President Biden complete remarks at 2022 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN)...
- “I’ll coup thee,” I will give you this for that.1855, an Inhabitant [pseudonym; Francis Kildale Robinson], A Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases, Collected in Whitby and the...
Synonyms of coup
Forms of coup
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | coups |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | coups |
| present participle | couping |
| past participle | couped |
| past | couped |
Origin of coup
Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (“blow, strike”), from Old French coup, colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. Doublet of cope and colpus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe, caupe (with different pronunciation).
From Middle English coupen (“to buy; (figuratively) to pay for”), from Old Norse kaupa (“to buy, bargain, barter, exchange”).
Words formed from coup
Phrases with coup
- Bath coup
- Coup Belt
- coup d'œil
- counts coup
- coup d'etat
- coup de tat
- coup sticks
- counted coup
- coup d'etats
- coup d'états
- counting coup
- coup de grace
3 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with coup
Questions about coup
- What does coup mean?
- Coup means a quick, brilliant, and highly successful act.
- What is coup in Hindi?
- Coup in Hindi is तख्तापलट. See Coup meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use coup in a sentence?
- "[…]It was quite a coup for Pullen Park to get it.
- What part of speech is coup?
- Coup can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce coup?
- Coup is pronounced /kuː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of coup?
- The plural of coup is coups.
Words near coup in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: coup (page history and authors); coup (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); coup (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coup (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); বিদ্রোহ (Bengali) (page history and authors); coup (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coup (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coup (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); coup (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); coup (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-coup.wav.
Cite this entry: “coup.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coup. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.